Board considers jail capacity policy

November 04, 2008|By VICKI ROCK, Daily American Staff Writer

The Somerset County Prison Board will consider drafting a policy on what to do when the number of inmates exceeds the jail's capacity.

President Judge John M. Cascio presented a “rough draft” of the policy to board members at Tuesday's meeting. The issue has been discussed for the past several months because the number of female inmates came close to capacity this summer.

Deputy Warden Adele Bauer reported the jail had 76 inmates as of 8 a.m. Tuesday, including seven women. Sixteen is the jail's stated capacity for female inmates. Of the 76 inmates, 61 percent are serving sentences and the rest are awaiting court proceedings.

They are trying to get clarification of the legislation that will require inmates serving sentences of more than two years to be sent to state prison, the judge said. Currently, judges have the discretion to allow inmates sentenced to two to five years to serve that sentence in the county jail. They are also getting more information on the requirement that the state Corrections Department assume more responsibility for transporting state prisoners to county court proceedings.

The court is doing more video arraignments of inmates who are in state prisons in other areas, Cascio said. That will save some transportation costs. They need clarification about when inmates are allowed to refuse having court proceedings done by video instead of appearing in person. The judges are also talking about hardwiring video equipment in Courtroom No. 3 so it will be available when needed.

Warden Tom Perrin said work on the jail's plumbing has been completed. The staff will now have the ability to shut off water to individual sections of the jail when there is a problem instead of having to shut off water to the entire jail.

Sixteen cells now have metal ceilings, he said. The work will continue into next year, he said. Video cameras will be installed in the control room. They have already been installed throughout the jail. Jailcraft Inc., Stevensville, Md., has completed work on the doors and will repair the lock to the control room. Will Roofing, Berlin, has repaired the jail roof, which leaked.